


Cloaks

by PrinnPrick



Series: Magic, Change, and Competition [1]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Angst, Cloud/Leon rivarly, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Major character death - Freeform, Mentions of Violence, Mentions of multiple worlds, Ritual Magic, Romance, Roxas will be 18+ before NSFW stuff begins, Switching Perspective, actual violence but not gore, may be rated more mature in the future, mention of sexual activity later on which may not become graphic but if it does i'll update the tags, unless you could minor grinding and lap sitting NSFW
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-16
Updated: 2019-06-22
Packaged: 2019-06-28 05:53:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 17,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15701157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrinnPrick/pseuds/PrinnPrick
Summary: Roxas is enjoying his last summer before college with his friends in Twilight Town when he comes across a mysterious man wearing an odd, black jacket. After several fateful encounters, Roxas manages to catch the man's attention and soon they begin a rather intimate friendship. However, there a dark mystery involving his new companion that unfolds and results in a bit more than Roxas bargained for... Or, perhaps, bargaining is exactly the answer to solving it?





	1. The First Sighting

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This fanfiction is one I am actually transferring from my fanfiction.net account (AliVal13). I will be deleting it from there as soon as I have all the chapters transferred to over here. There was about eight, I think? I have more on the way already once I'm finished with the transfer, but just like I am doing with each chapter as I move it the stuff I haven't uploaded yet needs to be edited. Big time. And I am not the best when it comes to editing, but I know I can at least improve what I have so far.
> 
> This was a role play I did some time ago with a friend. Again, the idea is solely mine or else I wouldn't post it without her permission. This was my project, she just helped a little. And as we did not complete this together I will eventually be writing this 100% solo as I so often must.
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy!

It was another lovely summer day in Twilight Town--the last summer just before college. Four local high school students were enjoying their final days together in the warm sun at their high school, participating in the Annual Flower Festival. Blossoms of every kind could be found either blooming from a pot or sprouting naturally from the ground in a variety of shapes and colors. A perfect place for a group of friends to enjoy some peace.

"This is a waste of our time. Why did you have to pick _this_ place? Don't we suffer enough during the year?"

Or rather, there would be peace... if only everyone enjoyed flowers. A blond with camouflage pants was looking less then enthusiastic; arms crossed and a defiant frown on his face. He 'hmph'ed when asked what he thought of a supposedly rare petunia, scoffed at the butterbells, and even turned his nose up at the large daisy heads.

No one else seemed to be having a problem with the festival, at least. A shorter, chubbier teen even chuckled at the blond.

"Roxas and I don't mind it."

"Yeah, well Roxas is gay and you like shopping so you're practically gay."

"Hey, being gay doesn't automatically mean you love all the girly things in life." Began Roxas, placing his hands on his hips and smiling in an amused way at his friend, "I hate shopping. Don't you remember when Olette tried to force me to the local thrift shop to get new pants? I tried to hide at yours but she sniffed me out like a blood hound."

"You're both just sour," Olette said, forcing the group to pause near a booth giving out more flower themed merchandise. For five munny she got each of her friends a flower hairclip, all daisies in various colors. In her own hair she placed a yellow daisy clip, then moved to her chubby friend to put a red daisy clip in his.

"Thanks Olette," he grinned. "How's it look?"

"You're gorgeous, Pence!" Olette said cheerfully. She put a blue one in Roxas's hair and a white one in Hayner's. "We all agreed it was my turn to choose what we do today, and I chose the festival. I expect you to at least _pretend_ to have fun with me."

"Don't look at me," Roxas said and adjusted the clip, which was flattening his spikes in his blond hair. Once satisfied, he smiled at his brunette female friend. "I like flowers, I just hate clothes shopping."

Hayner took the clip out of his hair as soon as it was in.

"I don't do girly." He stated gruffly, but put the clip on his jacket instead all the same.

"You'd rather do manly things with manly men," Olette teased lightly. "I'm surprised you're the straight one. Roxas at least enjoys some aspects of his feminine side."

Pence chuckled under his breath as Roxas started to laugh, but then both hid their amusement behind a series of coughing as Hayner turned to glare at them.

Hayner turned back to Olette, "I'm surprised Pence is straight." He stated simply. "And what the hell makes you think being 'manly' makes you gay? It's when you explore your feminine side you become gay, moron."

Roxas was digging into his ear with his pinky and released a loud, wet burp into Hayner's ear. "What'cha say?"

"Sensitive men attract the women," Pence said simply.

"Hence why Pence has been dating pretty girls for as long as we've known him." Olette confirmed. "Whereas you, Hayner, only attract the bulky headed guys. Like Seifer. I am _positive_ he is hitting on you."

"And don't forget when _we_ dated, Olette. Kind of have to be attracted to date someone for--what was it? Three months?" Hayner reminded, rather a little too smugly. "Though, you _do_ look like a bulky man. Probably why you don't date very often."

Roxas took a few cautious steps back. "And here come the fireworks..." He murmured.

"And we broke up mutually because the attraction wasn't real. Let it go!"

"No, we broke up because you're _needy_ and _annoying_."

"No, we broke up because you'd rather be training for the Struggle Tournament every second of your life then spend time with me!"

"Oh, come on--don't fight! We came here to have fun right?" Pence began gently, forcing himself between the two warring factions. The more the two spoke, the closer they moved to each other--and the closer they become, the louder they got. Soon, half the crowd at the festival was watching.

"Of course, if Hayner would loosen up a little." Olette scowled, her voice calmer and arms stiffly crossed.

"I can't! It's rather hard when she's trying to force me to be girly and then saying if I'm not I _must_ be gay." Hayner looked at Roxas. "Not that I have a problem with you being gay, I just can't find men attractive."

Roxas shrugged. "Just leave me out of it and I could care less."

"It was a joke Hayner! Can't you take a joke anymore?" Olette huffed. "And another thing--"

"Hey, hey...!" Pence began again, having to hold his hands out to keep the two apart. "Not now. We're all friends here, are in public, and we don't have many days left before college. Lets just try to have fun, okay?"

"You always make that 'joke'," Hayner began, not listening to Pence at all. "Just admit you're still pissed I broke up with you so now you're determined to prove there was a reason beyond your control! I'm not gay, get over it!" He ended with a growl.

Roxas began to back off again, as quietly as he could to avoid getting caught.

 _Let the mediator handle it. I'd just make things worse anyway._ Roxas chuckled awkwardly to himself as he eased his way around the corner of the main school building where all the merchandise and small flowers were being sold. _Pence is probably the only reason Olette and Hayner are still friends._

Pence let out a long sigh, pointing out each party's agreeable stand points, correcting one another's wrongs, but never really taking a side. Olette and Hayner's voices rose and the argument continued to escalate. 

Roxas took this chance to jog away until he was out of sight and his friends nearly out of ear-shot, following the path of the sidewalk along the edge of the school. He chuckled again in that same uncomfortable way as he heard Hayner declaring a loud, "look what you did! You scared Roxas off!" as he turned another corner. The blonde finally slowed down when he was at the back of the building with a deep sigh to himself and an exasperated shake of his head. 

As much as he loved all three of his close friends, sometimes he just wished Olette and Hayner would stop talking to each other completely. It might be easier to deal with a separation than forcing them to try and get along. Maybe.

Now that he was away from the chaos between his best friends, he decided to take his time in walking down the sidewalk toward the greenhouses just beyond the school grounds. It was still technically school property and sold the sturdier, bi-annual flowers and plants. Eventually, concrete turned into dirt and dirt became rocks and soil the closer he got to the greenhouse gates. There was a thick, open garden on both sides of the entrance once he walked inside and a small watermill—both more for show than for any real purpose. There were long, drooping flowers and vines with little yellow blossoms; red roses, pink tulips, and lavenders, and benches filled with potted delights for sale that the blonde wouldn't be buying today in order to save his money. Roxas wasn't exactly the most fluent, but he recognized a Columbine flower and the sapling of a Papou Fruit tree despite both being rather exotic to Twilight Town. 

The trail of merchandise and colorful arch-ways turned into tiny greenhouses and smaller crowds, and then to a widened road lined with cherry blossom trees. It was a little cooler that year and only a month or so until the Fall, so the pink petals were already being shed. The Flower Festival was the perfect time to see the trees, and an even better time for the best group photos in his opinion (which he figured this year would be impossible to do, considering). 

Roxas had only just set foot where the trees began before he paused. It wasn't surprising to see another person there (in fact, it was more surprising to see it so empty) but the man just a few feet away was... odd. 

Despite being a little cooler than normal, it was still warm enough for Roxas to wear short-sleeves and shorts. Most wore loose or flowing garments or short things like him in this weather, but not the man currently staring up directly into the branches. The man had the brightest red hair Roxas had ever seen, like fire, and wore black from his neck to his feet—a large, thick looking trench coat, in fact. The red-head stood perfectly straight with his gloved hands at his sides and a serious mien on what was a rather hansom, tattooed face. The man was exceptionally tall, skinny as a rake, and pale as alabaster. 

Roxas tilted his head as he noted how much of a contrast the man was in comparison to the white-pink of the trees and the light-brown of the ground. It was hard to look away. He took a few slow steps forward, as if approaching a scared animal, before stopping in his tracks again—unable to blink. There was something so strange about the red-head, so abnormal and yet... intriguing. Roxas felt his skin begin to prickle with heat.

 _I wonder what he's staring at,_ Roxas tried to look without getting too close (when he could finally pry his eyes away), then shook his head as he remembered it didn't matter. _Probably just the trees. Why does he seem so serious, then?_  
A Summer breeze began to blow and the fallen Sakura danced away from the floor in circular patterns. It turned into a pink tornado that surrounded the red-head for a short moment before falling away and leaving the stranger's long hair and wide shoulders sprinkled in beautiful petals. It should have looked ridiculous (well, maybe—maybe not) but instead the man appeared as if he belonged in a painting. 

Roxas felt his breathing pick up and a shiver run the length of his spine.

 _This is... This is kind of... Shit, I'm drawing a blank on the word,_ Roxas thought with a hard gulp. There was a small gracing his tanned features without his knowing it. _Romantic! This feels kind of... romantic._  
The tall man appeared to huff out a sigh before suddenly turning his head in Roxas's direction. The blonde thought he might have felt his heart stop for a solid beat as he noted with a bright, and growing, blush how very green the man's eyes were. Bright, glowing, and cat-like... The man had the sharp, intense look of someone who knew what trouble really meant. 

Their gazes held for what felt like forever to Roxas before the stranger turned on his heel and finally walked off in the opposite direction. There was a parking lot that way, so Roxas assumed he meant to leave. It was depressing to let the moment go, but the red-head was most likely a tourist—a temporary visitor. Still, Roxas berated himself for not at least waving “Hello” or saying _something_ , anything, to grab the red-head's attention.

Though, now that the man was gone and his feet no longer glued into place, Roxas felt comfortable enough to walk up to the same tree the stranger had stared at. He wondered what was worthy of a man like that's time, but at first saw nothing. He leaned against the tree on his tip-toes and turned his head this way and that for something interesting until...

“Oh no...”

There, on a branch, was what appeared to be a dead mother bird. Above her was a nest with two newborns crying out for either her or for food, or maybe attention. Roxas didn't know much about birds, but either way the sight caused him to frown. His mood immediately dropped. He lowered himself back to his heels and sighed.


	2. The Second Sighting

It was late into the afternoon when the peace was finally restored. Roxas met up with his friends at the icecream parlor after the festival. To make sure the peace remained, Pence and Roxas sat between Olette and Hayner with Pence closer to Olette. They each had themselves sea-salt icecream.

Roxas was listening to another bad joke Hayner had heard earlier that day, laughing despite how corny it was, then turning his eyes away to stare intently at his ice cream. He had a dreamy look upon his face as he thought of the simple, though mesmerizing scene from before; it kept playing over and over again in his head like a broken record that couldn't be stopped.

A tall, hansom stranger... Untamed hair covered in petals, flying gently along a breeze... An ere of mystery behind beautiful eyes of perfect emerald... Even his thoughts seemed far away and slightly broken, he was so distracted.

"Hey Roxas," Pence began, licking his ice-cream. "You seem a little distracted, what's up?"

Roxas jumped as he was addressed, turning to look at Pence with his usual small smile. "Oh, just thinking about something I saw earlier."

"Oh? What did you see?" Olette asked sweetly. "Is it something interesting for us to do tomorrow? It's your turn coming up."

It took a lot of energy for Roxas not to cackle pervertedly at that comment, instead clearing his throat.

 _You're 17, not 10._ "The fair is coming up." He said simply.

"You saw them setting up already?" Olette asked, looking eager.

"That can't be right, the fair is next week. They start preparations on Monday," Pence said.

"Oh yeah..."

"I just commented it was coming soon. I didn't say they were ready or anything yet," Roxas replied with a chuckle. "I'll worry about what we do when my day comes. Pence's is tomorrow." He looked at his tubby friend. "Well?"

"I kinda wanted to go to the beach," Pence said. "We haven't gone all summer, if you think about it. Except that one time, then Seifer and his cronies chased us off."

Roxas nodded. "Sounds like fun."

"Only one problem." Hayner finally interjected. "No money. We barely had enough for ice cream."

"I have some left from the festival." Olette reached into her pocket, pulling out her hand-sewn wallet. She poured out what coins she had, counting them. "... One-hundred-and-sixty-three... I shouldn't have bought those scones..."

"Don't worry, Olette," Pence said. "Those scones were tastey." He grinned. Everyone knew he loved food. "Maybe we can take up those part-time jobs again?"

Roxas suddenly felt very disgruntled. "I hate the poster run..." He huffed. "I have to jump across buildings, climb walls--I was almost run over by the street car once!"

"Well, we can always do something else--like hull trash up that hill." Pence said.

Olette made a face. "Ew! Do you remember what happened last time? The bag burst because Hayner hit it too hard when we were trying to get it up the hill!"

"...What about delivering mail?" Roxas suggested suddenly.

"They wouldn't need all of us for that. There are so few letters to deliver... How about one of us deliver mail, and the rest of us handle the bee situation downtown?" Hayner supplied.

"I dont think I can handle the stinging," both Olette and Pence said at once.

"Let Olette handle the mail." Roxas said first, then added, "Hayner, you can handle the bees." Hayner rolled his eyes. "Me and Pence can do the street act and handle the garbage."

"I like that idea," Olette said happily. And they all agreed. Tomorrow morning they would handle the jobs, then by the afternoon have enough to go to the beach.

Roxas nodded in agreement. They all left the shop together a few moments later. Pence walked Olette home from the shop and Hayner lived in a whole other direction, which meant Roxas was left to walk home alone. He moved down the side-walk, which stood beside the street car tracks, over a bridge, then around a curve... suddenly stopping in his tracks as he turned the corner toward home. His bright blue eyes went wide in surprise and recognition, staring with his breath caught in his throat at the entrance into the next sector. Roxas had to take a moment to remember he couldn't live very long without breathing, forcing himself to remember the basic functions of his body--like blinking and shutting his gaping mouth.

Standing there in the near darkness was the man from before, the one he had seen at the flower festival. Roxas stood a good few feet away from him, but began to back up slowly to keep from being noticed too soon (he felt like a creep with the way he just _stared_ at the man). The blond continued to watch the man in amazement, despite his own mental recriminations. He had been certain he'd never see him again. He immediately began to note the redhead's eyes were once again averted upward, staring intently at something. Roxas could just make out a slightly crumpled piece of paper in the man's gloved hands--a small spot of white that seemed to glow against the black leather.

The redhead finally looked down after another second or two, which felt like a millennia to Roxas, in order to scribble something down on the paper. He crumpled it further in his fist once he was finished.

Roxas tilted his head like before, more curious than the last time he saw the man to see what he was looking at. The sunset stood behind Roxas, causing his shadow to elongate until it was near the redhead's feet--moving as he moved.

_I wonder what he's doing?_

The redhead stood there for what seemed like a long while before he looked down at his feet. His own shadow was off to the right, but the one on his left... He trailed his eyes over to where Roxas was peeking, then quirked a brow once he made eye contact.

Roxas jumped visibly--surprised to have been caught staring... again. He just smiled and waved as casually as he could, as if he were looking at Hayner or Olette (he would do the French Wave with Pence).

The tall man didn't smile or return the greeting, however. In fact, he didn't show any emotion at all. He just turned and began to walk in the opposite direction away from Roxas like he had before in the gardens. Where he once stood was just that piece of crumbled paper, now smashed into a ball.

Roxas had to fight off the pout of disappointment with great effort. His hand stood in the air a moment longer until finally drooping down to his side. He moved toward where the man had stood, since he had to pass by there to get home anyway, and stopped at the piece of paper. He contemplated picking it up and reading it, but that was rude...

 _Then again, the guy did discard it in a very public place, losing all privacy privileges. Not to mention he's probably long gone by now._ Roxas bent down, picking up the paper and unfolding the scraggly note.

Inside the paper was a mess of drawings and words. It looked like a bunch of scribbles and lines, as well as a very messy scrawl of notes. They read things like "train station A" or had the names of the streets. It appeared to be a map. And as Roxas looked up in the same direction the man had been peering, the first thing he saw was a sign--a street sign with the bold letters "Market Place Plaza Rd." written on the green background in white. Roxas turned back, noting what seemed to be a new mark with the street sign written on it--the writing rather scraggly.

Roxas tilted his head curiously, much like a puppy. 

"He must have been lost." He decided, folding the paper up neatly and trying to smooth out the terrible wrinkles. "And got frustrated." Roxas chuckled to himself, pocketing the somewhat-a-map. "Most people do."

He walked toward home again once the paper was secured away and rubbed at his exposed arms. The air suddenly turned chilly on the way home.


	3. Earning Money

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Teeeeechnically there is some minor (super minor) perspective switching in this one. I won't be separating those out because they are so small, though.

It was around noon the next day when Pence and Roxas were at the street corner preparing for the Street Act. The performance itself was extremely simple; just the Ball Toss and some juggling with pins. Nothing fantastic or complicated, yet it never failed to bring in some sort of crowd--especially if it went well. The tourists of Twilight Town were very easily entertained. As the boys were readying themselves, a crowd had already begun to gather curiously around the rope barrier.

After a few more seconds of preparation, they were ready and both grabbed one stick each to begin the day's act with the Ball Toss. It was in no way spectacular, but the crowd always loved it. It would begin with knocking the ball into the air and then would turn into a game to see how long the ball could stay up using only the stick. Sometimes, to keep it somewhat interesting, they would be expected to play with the crowd--tossing the ball back and forth between the kids and their parents and counting loudly how many hits the ball has taken. The longer it flied the more people came to watch, and as more people would come to watch the more the boys would be paid.

"A very simple but very cost effective act." Explained the young girl who had hired them, despite knowing they had heard the instructions a thousand times before. It was a regular thing, after all, and their whole group had done it at least twice every Summer since they were five.

Roxas nodded to her none the less before she walked away to leave them to it.

"All right, Pence... I'll go first, then you. That okay?"

"That's fine," Pence nodded, holding the ball in his hands. "Tell me when you're ready."

Roxas walked out to the middle of the open circle before the crowd. He had the stick he'd use in hand, turning to Pence and waiting. "Okay, throw!"

Pence tossed the ball into the air and the crowd immediately started to clap. Some had witnessed the act before and began counting out loud. Among the people standing was a familiar, tall man in a black cloak. He had his hood up this time, though some of his red hair fell over his shoulders from the bottom. However, Roxas was too busy to notice him.

Roxas knocked the ball high into the air from an angle, causing it to spin rapidly as it descended down. He lifted his stick up and used the tip to balance the spinning ball in the air a moment before hitting it back toward the sky again. He did a few more simple tricks like that as well as anything and everything you could do with a plain ball, finally giving it a few tiny hits to calm its rapid jumping so when he tossed it over to the kids lining the area they could hit it back easier. Even the adults seemed excited about hitting the ball, some carrying their kids on their shoulders.

The tourists laughed as they gently hit the ball back into the air, then back to the performer. A few more times the ball came back, right over the man in the cloak. He gently bumped it back up like the rest of the tourists had, then right back to Roxas.

Roxas caught the ball easily, tapping it a few more times. The crowd was still counting out loud, up to three-hundred-and-thirty. He turned to look at Pence.

"Now that I've broken my personal record," Roxas began, having to call to Pence a little louder over the noise of the crowd, "I'm a bit thirsty. Ready to trade?"

Pence nodded with his own stick at the ready. Roxas tossed it over, then quickly switched places. Pence kept the ball up, and though he wasn't as good as Roxas when it came to doing the tricks, he could toss it up pretty high and keep it at a good distance. Despite the simplicity of the Ball Toss, it still left Roxas very sweaty and a little exhausted. He shook his matted head out as he left the area with the crowd and over to a nearby slushy stand.

As Roxas moved to take a seat in one of the cheap stools at the stand, the man stepped in beside him.

"What can I do for you?" the man in the paper hat and colored apron asked Roxas first.

Roxas smiled. "Sea-salt, please." 

The worker nodded, going on to prepare Roxas's frozen treat. He handed him the Styrofoam cup and the bendy straw to stick in the middle. "And for you sir?" He asked the cloaked man next. "Might I offer you The Brainfreeze? Its a hot, hot day and that jacket looks awfully heavy."

"Bottled water is all I want," the redhead said, placing the munny on the counter. The worker nodded, handing over the cold water.

Roxas had just wrapped his lips around the straw to suck firmly at his thick concoction when he turned to look at the man. He gasped sharply, nearly choking on what had actually made it into in his mouth. He recognized the black coat immediately, and though he couldn't see his face, he saw the firey hair barely hanging out of the hood. 

Now, recognizing those things (like jacket and hair color) could still be considered a normal thing for someone who had seen another person they found attractive, even if he had only seen the redhead twice now... The creepy part, which disturbed even himself somewhat, was that Roxas recognized the man's clothed body--specifically his bony hips and long, long waist-- _first_ before confirming his suspicion with the more obvious.

Roxas looked to the redhead's legs, his height, his shoulders, and waist (the curve of his ass under the jacket) and was able to tell it was the same man from before in an instant. He knew the man he had only seen now three times by recognizing his body. Roxas blushed as the words "stalker" and "pervert" flitted through his mind.

The cloaked man uncapped his water and chugged down the contents to nothing in seconds.

_He's probably ridiculously hot in that jacket_ , Roxas thought as he watched and tried not to be too obvious about his staring (and possible drooling). The man turned away and began walking down the street--toward the Sandlot where Seifer and his gang preferred to haunt. Roxas was a little disappointed when the man didn't even look at him this time. However, Roxas had a little more courage then he had their last two encounters. So, after gulping down one more big sip of his slushy and without a second thought to the possible consequences, the blonde performer stood from the stool and moved to follow. He didn't know what compelled him to do it, and this meant he was technically walking out on a job half-way through unless he could somehow get back in time for the second half... But he didn't care or could even think to care about it right now. He walked after the cloaked figure as stealthily as he could.

The redheaded man tossed the bottle into a nearby trashcan. He seemed to be taking his time down the street to look at all the strange poster advertisements and stains on the walls. It felt like an hour when in actuality it could only have been a minute or so before he stopped at last and began to fumble about inside his sleeve. It seemed he was expecting to pull somehow out as he dug around. He searched through both sleeves--becoming more frantic and even shaking them out, but nothing. With a frustrated grunt, the redhead began to pat down the rest of his cloak.

Roxas stopped in his own tracks and quickly jumped behind some large barrels just outside the local wine brewery. He looked around one large barrel, gently pressing his hands into the wood and steel rim as he studied the other man carefully.

_What is he looking for?_

"Guess I'll have to draw a new one," he murmured to himself. "The boss is gonna kill me..." His shoulders slumped and he sighed in defeat before standing straight to pull his hood down. His hair, just like before, was a wild array of bright-red spikes that bounced as he shook his head out and fanned himself as best as he could.

_Draw a new one?_

Roxas was fortunately the type to wear the same trousers without cleaning them for at least three weeks (which was about when his mother would demand he either clean them or set them on fire from the smell), so of course he had the same bottoms from yesterday. And he still had the chocolate crispy from last week in there too. He pulled out the piece of paper he had picked up from yesterday--throwing the moldy crispy aside, and then tried to wipe the chocolate off as quickly as he could. Once the paper was relatively clean he ran up to the stressed out red-head and tapped his high shoulder gently.

The red-head stopped in his tracks and looked down at Roxas with those same sharp eyes from before. 

"Can I help you?"

Roxas unfolded the paper and smiled as he showed it to him. "You--" He gulped nervously but maintained his smile. "You dropped this. Um, yesterday night."

Two long fingers moved to pull the paper away from Roxas and unscrambled it. The same lines and notes were there, somewhat hindered by the crinkled surface, and--he brought the paper close to his face to inspect it.

"... Chocolate?"

Roxas gave a nervous chuckle. "I forgot I had food in that pocket. Sorry!" He waved a hand awkwardly as a way of saying good bye before turning to leave. He didn't look back lest his cherry-red face been seen as he jogged away. For the first time in his life Roxas wondered as he fled if his run looked strange (were his legs straight? Did his butt stick out? Was he bending his knees too much/too little?) and if the red-head might be judging him on it but refused to slow down and ensure a more elegant exit.

The redhead quirked a brow, watching Roxas run off. He shook his head. "Weird kid..."

oo00oo00oo

Roxas and Pence did their juggling act next, which was a huge hit--especially when Roxas turned around and started catching the throw pins between his knees and throwing them back over his shoulder to Pence. Afterward was trash duty. First the trash had to be gathered and then pushed up the hill to the compacting facility. Pence always tired out easily so after picking the trash up around the court and carrying it to the hill Roxas had told him he could go rest and he'd handle hauling the trash to the compactor. He pushed the cart up the hill with some difficulty--hitting the cart now and then with the available bat to get it moving when it seemed stuck. It was obvious he had done this a few times already with how fluid he moved.

Pence went off to get another slushy from the food court as Roxas worked. He passed by a man in a heavy, black cloak, which was strange--he had never seen a man in such a thick dark cloak before (and certainly not in _Summer_ ), but dismissed him as he passed. The man had his hood down for now and was busy drawing lines, paying Pence no mind. He looked up around the tight knit buildings as he came to a stop at the bottom of the hill where Roxas was struggling with the garbage--making notes of anything that made the streets unique.

Roxas finally had it at the top of the hill. There was still the actual compacting of the trash to be done, but for now he fell down to the ground with a grunt and panted. He had his shirt and jacket off but it didn't seem to help much--his entire body felt slick with perspiration. He ran a hand through his sticky hair and tried to wipe off his bare chest, but it only seemed to cause rivulets of sweat to pour down and stain his waistband.

"Man, that was the heaviest load yet..." He muttered to himself, looking at his shoes. His vision and focus were a little blurry from exhaustion and heat.

The man looked at the open garage that acted as the town's garbage dump. He eyed the large bags of rubbish Roxas and Pence had collected sitting near the blond but didn't seem to notice, or care, that the blond himself he had seen before was sitting on the ground just ahead of him.

Roxas stood up when he felt he could breathe again, perhaps too soon as he immediate wobbled over his feet. He ended up tripping on his first step as he attempted to straightened himself. If the hill hadn't been quite so vertical, perhaps he would have just fallen on his face immediately or to his side and no harm done, but it wasn't. For whatever reason, the dump had built itself on one of the higher hills and that meant there was space for a falling teenager to practically glide over the ground until hitting the bottom--which is what he was doing.

"Watch out!" He warned as he tumbled. He had caught site of someone on the edge of his vision, but it was too late. Roxas went head first into whoever's stomach and they both tumbled down the rest of the steep hill together.

The redhead grunted as he landed on his back with a new weight on top of him. His head had just managed to miss the ground, though that meant he was bound to have a crick in his neck later. Groaning as he sat up and bringing the blond on top with him, he muttered disdainfully, "Thanks for the warning."

Roxas rubbed his forehead and quickly looked around. He sighed in relief when no one but them was anywhere near. However, that's about when he noticed just who it was he had landed on. He stared blankly at the the tall man at first with his hand paused on his bruised brow--his face quickly turning crimson.

_It's him! And I'm sitting... I'm_ sitting _...!_ Roxas's breath caught in his throat with a squeak as he unconsciously touched the other's jacket where his other hand had landed--noting somewhere in his subconscious that it was leather. Real, matted leather.

Roxas was still frozen from shock on top of the redhead but his face and brain felt as if they had just exploded with pleasure. His legs were curled over the red-head's hips.

"I, um..."

The redhead below him quirked a brow. "You what?"

Roxas moved to stand up quickly when he realized it was probably impolite to just sit there, but only fell right back down into the man's lap ("Oof!") with a wince. His knee had given a sharp spike of pain.

"Sorry! Sorry, sorry..." Roxas replied quietly. He tried again, this time without putting a lot of weight on that knee. He stumbled at first but was able to stand straight without knocking into the man in the jacket a third time. After, he held a hand out to help the red-head up. "Sorry about that. I should have given myself some time to rest before trying to stand up again. Last time I rolled into a fruit cart." He chuckled, giving his usual (though it was a little crooked this time) smile.

He took Roxas's hand, stood up, dusted off his cloak, and then looked at the paper still clutched in his hand. It was torn slightly. He folded it up instead of crumbling it this time and stuffed it back into his sleeve. "No harm done I guess."

Roxas's knee throbbed, but it didn't feel sprained or broken. He'd just put a wrap on it later--Olette carried tons of medical supplies in her purse (all for good reason. Even Pence would occasionally horse play too hard).

"You sure you're okay, er... What's your name?" Roxas asked, both because he wanted to make sure... and because, well, he wanted a name.

"Three times," he murmured, shaking his head. "... the name's Axel."

_Axel? I like that name..._ "Three times?" Roxas questioned, tilting his head. "You know, it's really dangerous around this block. You shouldn't walk around this area if you don't know where things are."

"This is the third time I ran into you," Axel explained. "This time being a little more literal." He trailed off, shaking his head. "I'm trying to figure out where everything is."

Roxas seemed embarrassed at that first comment, then brightened up considerably. "Oh! You're making a map, right?" His eyes widened. _Oh no! Now he knows I looked at the paper! What if he thinks I'm too nosy?_ "A-Anyway, I wouldn't go this way if I were you. The trash compactor is back there and so is the demolish site for the compacted trash. They're having trouble with a bee infestation at the moment."

Axel didn't say anything about the map. He just nodded to the warnings but didn't seem phased at all. "Right." He crossed his arms, "So what were you doing just now? Wouldn't the workers worry about the trash?"

"Odd jobs. Around here we rely on small shops in the market sector for food, supplies--anything. But all those shops are family-owned, so there are no jobs here besides a bunch of grunt work no one else wants to do." Roxas pointed to the trash bag that was being pulled inside by a worker. "Like that. That and three other bags me and a friend dragged around after collecting it from the shops. Sometimes we even help with compacting and then destroying it. We also do street performances to bring in tourist crowds for the food court, help get rid of the bees when they come in during summer, deliver mail, set up posters... that kind of stuff."

"Sounds like a ball," Axel commented as he looked back up at the hill and then higher toward the sky. The twilight was growing dark. "I should go back."

Roxas wanted to ask where Axel was heading, but he kept it to himself. He had been a bit stalker-ish already. He just nodded and walked a few steps over to retrieve his shirt and jacket from where he had left them at the bottom of the hill on a pole. He frowned at the drooping sun as he dressed.

"Guess we'll have to wait until tomorrow to go to the beach," he murmured before he turned to look at Axel again. "Well, it was nice meeting you, Axel." He said before waving his goodbye like before and jogged back up the hill toward the man waiting to give him his pay.

Axel didn't say anything or even watch him go--just waved over his shoulder as Roxas ran off. He disappeared around a corner.


	4. The Tower

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did not mean to take so long to update, but I've been having a lot of health issues this term (I'm in college, too, and we just got done with mid-terms. I also have a part-time job). Anyway, I'll have another chapter up hopefully by the end of the day! Maybe two, but don't hold me to that. 
> 
> This and the next chapter are a bit short, but that just means faster updates. <3 Not to worry. They'll start to grow in length soon enough. I have at least up to chapter 17 as far as material goes. I just have to edit it all and separate them around.

No matter what fights had gone on throughout the day; no matter what issues were left untouched and therefor still broken; no matter what circumstance that might have befallen the group the end of the day meant the end of all negative matters. As the sun began to twinkle slowly downward in the horizon, Hayner, Roxas, Pence, and Olette were making themselves comfortable as they would at the end of nearly every day at one of their usual spots--this time the top of the clock tower. The top of the tower was especially important for the end-of-the-day cleansing ritual, as it was decidedly the most peaceful and isolated of all places. Though public, no one dared visit the tower but them--and they treated the place almost as if it were a sacred running ground.

"..." Roxas stared thoughtfully out into their little world of shops and blue lights while the ice cream in his hand melted away without his notice.

"What'cha thinkin' about?" Pence asked as he licked away at his own sea-salt ice-cream.

Roxas jumped as he was suddenly addressed in the quiet. He turned to look at Pence. "Wh-What?"

Hayner gave Roxas a frown. "You've been acting weird since yesterday..."

"Yeah," Olette agreed. "You seem distracted. I mean, your ice-cream is melting all over your hand."

Roxas looked down at his ice cream and indeed it had made his hand a complete mess. He quickly switched hands and then flicked the sticky substance into the air, making sure to aim away from the tower.

"What's up, man?" Hayner asked mid-lick.

"Well..." Roxas turned a bit pink. "I sorta... met someone."

"Really? Who?" Olette asked and kicked her legs out of habit. She licked up more of her ice-cream.

"Is it someone we might know?" Pence went on.

Roxas shook his head. Hayner rolled his eyes as the blond's face turned even pinker. He then sighed dramatically and hugged Roxas close so that his blonde hair smashed against his chest. "My little queen! Growin' up, discovering boys!"

Roxas pushed him off and gave Hayner a scowl. His hair was already kind of a mess from the day but now he was certain it had been totally flattened. "No, you wouldn't. He... Just came into town. His name is Axel."

"Is he hot?" Olette giggled, leaning over Pence's lap to give Roxas a mischievous smile.

Roxas looked away from Olette and continued to eat his ice cream as he mumbled, "damn straight..."

Olette sat back up and clapped her hands with a smile of delight. "Are you going to try and ask him out?"

"Don't rush him, Olette." Pence said, laughing. "When you first meet someone you get to know them. You don't want Roxas to scare him away, do you?"

"Oh, I know!" She sighed. "I'm just really excited for Roxas."

"Oh, yeah right." Hayner interjected. "Like you only have those pictures of guys making out as your wallpaper because it helps the environment."

Olette just stuck her tongue out at Hayner.

Roxas chuckled. He finished off what was left of his ice-cream and proceeded to lick his fingers clean. "Well," he said between sucking one finger and the next, "he's really distant. I'm pretty sure I've scared him already."

"Maybe he's just not very social," Pence shrugged.

"He seemed busy all the time... and kind of annoyed. Or maybe bored?" Roxas shook his head. "Well, he was nice enough for sure. He's skinny, really tall... Nice shoulders, tattoos under his eyes, awesome hair--plus a butt that went on for miles." Roxas turned a bright red when he admitted to that last detail.

"Glad to see I've been an influence in your life." Hayner stated proudly.

Olette laughed. "Wow, that good looking, huh? So when do we get to meet him?"

"When you happen to be around when I run into him randomly again," Roxas replied with a nervous chuckle. "I honestly don't know if _I'll_ ever even see him again. It's all been coincidental, honestly."

"Aww..." Olette pouted.

"How many times did you run into him, anyway?" Pence asked as he pocketed the stick from his treat for throwing away later.

"Hm... About three or four times since yesterday. Well, technically, it _has_ been four times, but the first time we just saw each other and didn't do anything. The second time I waved, but he just walked away. The third time I actually spoke to him and the fourth time I fell on top of him." Roxas nodded to himself in confirmation, as if mentioning falling on top of someone was normal.

"You fell on him?" Olette giggled. "How was that for your first technical bodily encounter?"

"Nearly broke my knee; pretty sure he bruised his fine ass. I-I mean, behind." Roxas coughed.

"Aww!" Olette cooed. "You didn't rub it better?"

Roxas gawked. "NO!" He replied as his blush brightened to nuclear levels. He looked out toward the scenery again and took a long breath to calm his cheeks. "No... But... He didn't seem to mind me. And he gave out his name freely, even after I landed on him half-nude--"

"Half-nude?" Olette's mind was now swimming with all sorts of possibilities. "And how could that HAVE NOT led to alley-way sex!"

"Olette, keep your odd fantasies to yourself, please." Pence chuckled.

Roxas shrugged. "Because I smelled of sweat and nasty trash, for one. Also, I didn't even know his name until he gave it to me after. Plus, I didn't have any condoms on me." _I probably shouldn't have said that..._

"Bareback is always good," Olette crossed her arms, nodding affirmatively. Pence started to laugh. "What? It's true!"

"Olette, you need to stop reading porn..."

Roxas laughed to, though honestly, he had thought about it... mostly by accident. Mostly. _And since when am I even suppose to have sex with him, a stranger who hates me? I probably should be more concerned that_ I'm _actually okay with it._

"Olette, you're crazy," was all he said out loud, and quite fondly.

Olette only pouted. "Well, you are going to try and talk to him again, right?" She asked, looking eager.

"If I ever see him again..." Roxas murmured.


	5. A Train to The Beach

The next morning came almost too soon as Olette came to knock on Roxas's door.

"Roxas!" She called toward the upper floor windows where she knew his room was after she had tried to knock. "Roxas, you awake yet? We're going to be late meeting Pence and Hayner at the train station!"

Roxas blinked slowly as he began to wake up. Olette's voice finally broke through the fog of sleep. He sat up in bed; his usually spiky tresses flat on one side from where he had slept. At first, he still didn't quite register Olette's voice as nothing but some loud noise and turned his blue eyes to the green light of his alarm clock. It took only a second of staring at the time before he was quite suddenly awake--gasping loud and nearly falling from his bed.

"OH CRAP! IT'S NOON!"

Roxas jumped out of bed, jerked his blanket and sheets aside, and then grabbed a brush and ran it through his hair frantically as he bounced around to knock off his pajamas.

Olette heard the cry of panic even from a floor below. She stepped back from the door with a giggle. A second later and Roxas was at the door, looking pink faced and panting.

"I'm s-sorry... Alarm... didn't go... off...!" He was in a pair of basic swimming trunks and a t-shirt he had quickly grabbed from the floor that at least appeared clean.

"Don't worry. Were you too busy dreaming of a certain tall someone?" Olette was still laughing, which earned her a frown as he came outside and locked the door behind him. She was wearing a one-piece bathing suit, orange with yellow flowers and a pair of khaki shorts.

Roxas gave Olette another flat look, but then let it go with his usual smile. He did have a dream about the red head, but it wasn't anything like a wet dream... Roxas had a dream that Axel was sitting next to him on the clock tower instead of his friends and had watched the sunset with him.

"No, I didn't." He yawned after he lied and moved quickly down the steps and onto the side-walk to avoid looking her in the eye.

"Sure you didn't," Olette said playfully. "Come on, we should hurry. The train leaves in fifteen minutes."

Roxas nodded. Together, they ran down the street and toward the train station. It was strange... As they jogged to their destination, they would occasionally run across people (usually three to a group) all in the same jacket Axel wore. Of course, he knew simply by their body types that they weren't Axel. He was just glad he didn't give the black leather jacket detail to his friends.

"Is there some kind of convention in town?" Olette asked, once they made it to the bottom steps of the train station. A pair of men in black cloaks walked down the steps, not paying the teenagers any mind. "Or is the black cloak thing a new fad?"

Roxas stopped running once they were at the ticket station. Hayner and Pence waved four tickets from the platform to tell them they were ready to go.

"..." Roxas looked at all the cloaked figures as they calmly made their way up to their friends with worry etched across his features. Axel... They all walk the same, ignore the same, kept to lines when in groups... _Is it a cult?_

"Weird..." Olette wrinkled her nose. "Come on, Roxas, or the train will leave." 

Roxas followed after her, but before he could step on the train--he stopped cold in his tracks. Some passengers were still stepping off, more cloaked people mostly. He turned his head just in time to let his eyes wander up into a shadowed hood where some red hair was hanging out. A quick glance downwards as the man passed him and Roxas could recognize two dancing hips, which gave Axel away entirely. Roxas stepped absent-minded into the entrance of the train, stopped again just inside the doors, and watched Axel walk away and back into town.

On his way out, Axel, for once, actually bothered to give a second glance to that familiar face. He didn't stop to look as he followed after another man in a black cloak out of the station, but he had looked. Roxas blushed slightly, wondering if he should wave or something--

"Roxas!"

\--But was grabbed by the collar and forced into the train so the door could close. Roxas yelped in surprise as he was grabbed, and then turned to his friends with an awkward laugh.

"Heh, sorry. Got distracted. You know, those coats must be so inconvenient."

"What coats?" Pence glanced out the train as it started to move, noticing the many heavy-looking leather cloaks. "You mean them? They've been showing up all over the place lately."

"So we saw." Roxas replied, indicating him and Olette.

"And suddenly, too." Hayner added. Down the last length of the train, opposite of them, were more dark coats. "What are they, the circus?"

Olette shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe you should ask, Hayner."

"...Olette, you artard. I was the one who mentioned the circus." Hayner rolled his eyes.

Roxas sighed.

_Here they go again..._ He thought before he looked out the window tried to relax on the way to the beach as much as possible. _They should just screw already or something, damn..._


	6. A Deal is Made

It was the end of the day and the sun was beginning to set over the horizon. Axel had decided to take the train to the other side of town as he was finishing what he believed to be the last of what he was supposed to do for the map, which meant walking to _Twilight Hill_ to finish. However, he stopped when he noticed the blond male he had run into on several occasions laying there at the top of the grassy hill over the train tracks tunnel--taking a nap. He stared at the sleeping teenager and quickly contemplated his options before he decided to walk over to where Roxas lay and sat next to him quietly. Axel reached into his coat pocket to retrieve a cigarette. He lit it as he looked down to study Roxas.

Roxas was curled up on the ground in a semi-fetal position looking quite content where he laid on the grass. His hair seemed to be somewhat matted and his shirt was wrinkled. Axel turned away casually, as if he hadn't been staring, when Roxas's nose began to scrunch and wiggle and his blue eyes opened slowly.

"Wazburnin'...?" Roxas asked groggily as he moved sit up.

"Cigarette," Axel said simply. He blew the smoke through his nose. His hood was down again and his sharp, green eyes were stuck on the sunset. The sun was disappearing slowly over the distant buildings on the entrance side of Twilight Town; the many windows and metal buildings glittering like crystal and turning everything orange.

Roxas blinked until his eyes focused at last. He sat up, rubbed his face, and then moved to curl his fit legs beside him. Axel turned just in time to watch those (sky? Cerulean?) blue eyes of his widen with disbelief.

"Axel...?"

"Mm." Axel responded before he took a long drag and puffed it out. "And you're Roxas, if my memory is correct."

Roxas nodded as he adjusted his legs again until they were crossed in front of him. He looked down at the grass and chuckled.

"Never thought you'd ever talk to me first..." He coughed as Axel blew another thick cloud of chemicals out.

"If it's any comfort, me either." Axel said, pausing to shake some of the ashes. He looked at the blond as he coughed. "What, don't like smoke?"

"Just... not used to it." Roxas replied plainly with an undertone of sadness in his voice. Axel wasn't sure why. Perhaps the kid was just an emo or something?

"Hmph," Axel took Roxas's chin in his gloved hand with a firm but less than bruising grip. He leaned in carefully until their lips were hardly an inch apart, as if he might kiss the blond. "Let me help with that."

Axel blew what little smoke he had left in his lungs on Roxas's nose, and then smirked as the blond's nose wiggled again. He didn't let go of the teen's chin, not even as Roxas jerked his head away to sneeze.

"Gah..." Roxas replied with an... oddly adorable sniff. Axel could tell he was trying hard not to pout--he looked so disappointed.

Axel gave a breathy chuckle and let Roxas's face go at last. "Dunno if that made it any better, but you kinda get used to it."

Roxas moved around so that he could sit facing Axel with his hands behind his back and pressed into the grass. He smiled brightly and a light blush graced his boyish features.

"So... wha'cha need? You said you didn't plan on talking to me, ever, so there has to be a reason."

"Maybe I just wanted someone to talk to." Axel said as he flicked off more ash. "You seem the type to keep a decent conversation."

"Mmmhmm." Roxas replied in playful disbelief. "And you seem the type to not care what I say. If I had my guess... I'd say you want my help with that map, if anything."

"My, you're deductive, aren't you?" Axel said, taking one more drag before tossing the dead bud to the side. "More or less. You live here, don't you? I figured you'd know every nook and cranny of this town."

"More then most. My parents are still surprised I'm alive." Roxas said, shrugging his shoulders... then coughing once more.

Axel chuckled again. "I bet... think you can show me every secret of this town?"

Roxas tapped his chin thoughtfully and gave the red-head an amused smirk.

"Hmm... I don't know... I mean, what do I get out of it?"

"Dunno, never thought of that, but I figured I wouldn't get a yes right away either." Axel ran a hand through his wild, red hair. "How about about I do you a favor in return?"

Roxas twitched slightly at hearing that, his smile a little strained. He cough, as if from the cigarette smoke, but Axel knew the look the kid sported now; it practically screamed, " _Suppressing dirty thoughts, suppressing dirty thoughts... entering my clean space._ "

"Like what?" Roxas asked with a tilt of his head. "I don't like letting people buy things for me so there's no easy way out for you."

"Think of something you want, want done, or something you don't want to do by yourself and I'll get it and/or do it for you in exchange for your help." Axel said. "Sound fair?"

"I guess." Roxas said, obviously mocking disinterest. The blonde was way too easy to read, which was actually kind of endearing. He smiled again. "...But, I'll decide later." He moved to stand up and dust himself off. "Meet me here tomorrow in the afternoon. I'd start today, but I'm still half wet."

"From what?" Axel quirked a brow.

Roxas chuckled.

"From the beach. I went swimming today, got back I think an hour ago." He tilted his head again at Axel. "You can take the train to the Destiny Island beaches. Kind of expensive and it takes a while to get there, but it's fun."

Axel nodded. "I see. I'll make a note of that." He stood up and started to walk away from Roxas. "I'll see you tomorrow. Thanks..." He face turned expressionless as it usually was when around Roxas, distractedly making his way off the hill. _I have to turn in what I already wrote down. The boss is already mad it's been taking me so long to finish my job..._

Roxas looked thoughtful again as he watched Axel walk away. He wanted to give the guy a hug or something... So he did. Roxas ran up behind Axel, wrapping his arms around that tiny waist and squeezing him.

"Welcome to Twilight Town." Was all he said before jogging away, and disappearing around a corner. He could hear his friends calling his name.

Axel blinked, surprised at the sudden contact. He was left speechless as Roxas ran around the corner. He sighed, ignoring the heat in his cheeks. He walked off towards the train station, feeling a little miffed and strangely... a little happy.

Roxas felt excited, his cheeks a deep red, as he ran to meet up with Olette, Hayner, and Pence. He was absolutely delighted--not even angry that his friends had just left him there to sleep at all.

"I love you guys." he said with a big grin on his face. He ran a hand through his salty hair.

"Eh..?" Olette was just about to offer a little boxed cake they bought with the left-over money. It was a, "We're sorry for leaving you alone for so long!" present. "Well, we love you, too... What happened?"

"Yeah, you look so happy." Pence pointed out in mild surprise.

Hayner twitched. "... He has the same look he had when we gave him his first vibrator last year."

Roxas just gave Hayner a flat look, but then smiled and walked around them. "Oh, nothing... nothing... Just, such a beautiful day, right? Right."

"Oh, let me guess... you saw Mr. Tall-and-Sexy again didn't you?" Olette squealed with delight and accidentally drop the box of cake. Pence caught it, thankfully.

"I hugged him and I'm spending the day with him tomorrow." Roxas announced happily... and then suddenly jerked to a stop. He turned to look at the other three. "Oh... Um. Tomorrow is my day anyway... So, um... Is it okay?"

Hayner just huffed and turned his head away. He always got jealous if Roxas started hanging out with someone else.

Olette rolled her eyes. "Don't be so sour. Roxas finally found someone he really likes! Right Pence?"

"Oh, sure..." Pence was trying to be neutral, as always. "I mean, we can't force Roxas to hang out with us all the time. Last days before college or not."

"But afterwards we get to meet him!" Olette pressed.

Roxas twitched. "Uhhh.. now, I don't--"

"Yeah. He better be hot or I'll never forgive you." Hayner stated huffily.

Roxas laughed nervously. _Well... maybe I can I warn Axel to run before they get the chance to actually speak to him? It's not that I mind them meeting him, just... Ugh._ "Oh, fine... But you may not like him."

"And why not?" Hayner asked, scowling at Roxas/

"Well... You just might... not."

"Now you don't know that," Olette said.

"If you like him this much, I know we'll like him, too." Pence said encouragingly.

"..." _I'm not so sure... If I even mentioned the word 'cigarette' I already know what they would say. Not to mention he's apparently one of the dark cloaks, and they aren't exactly getting a good reputation right now. If they knew he smoked that alone would make them want me to stop seeing him... Then again, maybe I'm just thinking too much about it? They're not as judgmental as I'm making them seem in my head... These are your_ friends _, you idiot!_ However, all he did was smile and say, "Thanks", out-loud.

"No problem." Pence said, then glanced at his watch. "We better hurry up. The train's going to leave soon! Don't want to get stuck on this side like we did last time."

Everyone nodded and they all walked toward the station.


	7. A... Date?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy a slightly longer chapter! Once the next chapter (Ch. 8) is up I will be taking a short break from this fanfiction.  
> I'm actually transferring a bunch of stories over from my old ff.net account and once I'm done with that I'll be back on updates.
> 
> Hopefully, if life be willing, it won't take too long.

The next morning, Axel waited atop Twilight Hill as promised. He still had on his same black cloak, but the temperature was thankfully colder, despite being the summer. He watched as some residence passed by in sweaters or thin cotton jackets, but he didn't pay attention to them for too long. He lit another cigarette and put the bud between his lips before he took a few short puffs.

Roxas walked up behind Axel as quietly as he could. Though he was trying to be stealthy in the hopes of playfully surprising the red-head, a cough unfortunately gave him away.

"I'll never get use to that smell..."

Axel took another long drag, then shook out the ashes from the cancer stick. He gave Roxas a sideways glance, long enough to notice that he wore a black and white turtle-neck, and then just shrugged.

"Keeps me warm."

"Even in summer? In that coat?" Roxas asked with a chuckle. He shook his head. "Doesn't matter to me if and why you smoke." He shrugged, then held a hand out. "Let me see your map."

Axel shrugged again, keeping the bud between his lips so he could dig into his sleeve. He pulled out a fresh sheet of paper, which was covered in a cleaner version of Axel's previous notes.

Roxas took it and immediately looked it over. His eyes went wide and his head fell side-ways; he quirked a brow at the map.

_He's missing the hole, the underground tunnels, the abandoned train stations... He doesn't even have my own home._ Roxas thought as he rubbed his cheek.

"Come on. We'll start with this side of town."

"From the look on your face I can tell I'm far from finished," Axel with annoyance tinging his voice. "Had to get the hard job..." he murmured. "All right, lead the way."

"Actually, it's a pretty easy task as long as you remember most of Twilight isn't what you can see." Roxas replied as he walked away from the top of the hill. "There's not really much to know on this side of town, but there are a few little secrets..."

Twilight Hill was a place for the richer set to live and where tourist could find a beautiful view along with a relaxing walk. It wasn't nearly as big as the other side of Twilight Town; it wasn’t even as big as the Market Place, but there was still some interesting things to discover. Roxas explained all this as he walked Axel all over that side of town, eventually making it to the little waterfall spring near the side-walk. None of the tourist ever really gave it any heed or took a picture and left...

"But when you step into the water the fall it's connected to creates a body double. It's like having a water clone." Roxas stepped into the water to show what he meant. His double even moved when he did. "It's not actually water, it just looks like it. A trick of the sun or something. Doesn't seem important, but you said all secrets..."

Axel was already taking notes. On his map was little doodles of intriguing things Roxas had shown him, such as some moving tiles apparently caused by unknown tremors underneath Twilight Hill. He moved to where Roxas was standing and looked toward their reflections.

"Like a liquid mirror. Interesting."

"Watch out, your coat is getting wet." Roxas immediately pulled them both out. _Hm, it's kind of cold today, after all. Maybe that wasn't such a good idea?_

"It'll dry. It's pretty durable; withstood snow storms and rains of fire," the redhead looked down at the smaller blond boy, "Anything else I should mark down?"

_Is he being sarcastic or serious?_ Roxas blinked at Axel, but shook his head and decided not to ask.

"The allies on this side of town are... strange. What I mean is, you should always avoid going into an alley and be careful when you pass them by. Well, more like 'it' by. There's only one major alleyway on this side." Roxas replied, as if what Axel said wasn't strange at all, and walked away from the stream.

"What do you mean by that?" Axel quirked a brow as he followed after Roxas. "Is the criminal rate that high or is it just some idiot always trying to mug the passerby?"

"Uh... no. We actually haven't had a problem with crime in years. In fact, nothing happens here... nothing normal like that anyway." Roxas stopped as he saw the big alleyway up ahead, which wasn't a long walk at all from the stream. "See that alley? That's the one I mean... And, um... Would you believe me if I said boulders randomly shoot out of it?"

If it were anyone else, they would've laughed. Axel just stared at Roxas as though he was just a wee bit off the deep end.

"... Boulders?"

Roxas nodded as he walked forward again. He made Axel stop a few feet away.

"Uh... stay here, I'll show you. My friend and I discovered this little secret by accident when we were five. A lot of bandages had to be used that day..." Roxas walked into the alley cautiously. Once past the corner he swerved inside, and then... boulders, about half the size of Roxas, began to shoot out from the wall at the end. The first rock flew by and disappeared into the adjacent wall behind Roxas.

Axel's eyes went a little wide, the ball-like boulder going right through the wall. "What the hell?"

Roxas jumped out of the way when the next round of rocks came out, two at a time now. He stood beside Axel panting.

"They always surprise me!" He sighed. "It'll take a few minutes to stop and we have no idea why it happens, but it usually only starts if you actually walk into the alley. They don't kill you if you get hit, at least; it just hurts. A lot. The really dumb kids around Twilight Town use it as a game."

"Flying boulders..." Axel made a note of it with a shake of his head. "Your town is by far the most interesting I've been to. Any more surprises I should be aware of? Such as... I dunno, walking trees?"

"We'll get to them later." Roxas said casually and jogged lightly past the alley as the boulders finally stopped. "Hmm. Well, on this side of town, there really isn't that much..." He seemed to be trying to think of anything he might have missed before they moved back to the real part of town.

Axel actually chuckled and folded his paper back up. "Secret tunnels, maybe?"

"The tunnels are also on the other side." Roxas replied and tapped his chin. "I guess that's it for over here." He smiled up at Axel. "Let's head back to the other side of town now."

Axel shook his head. At least he seemed amused. He walked side-by-side with Roxas back toward the train station.

oo00oo00oo

"I'm a little hesitant about going into the forest," Roxas admitted as they began to finally wind down their tour of Twilight Town. "Lately, there's been some weird stuff happening there; like odd noises and screaming. It could be dangerous."

"I already made a note of it." Axel replied casually, but quickly, as he followed beside his tour guide.

"Oh... What about the rip in the wall near the Market Place? I think I pointed it out to you already when we were there. It's been boarded up four times and torn down by nobody knows who each and every time so they stopped trying. It's another entrance into the forest. Before the hole, people had to walk a long route around the edge of Twilight Town and through a long trail between the trees to get there," Roxas explained, even though Axel seemed to be less than interested. "The rip in the wall showed up about five years ago. The mansion at the end of the woods is considered to be haunted. No one has tried to go near it in a long time, except some dumb kids playing dare games."

Roxas walked into the last area they hadn't seen with caution. It was a place far below the city.

"Most of the tunnels down here have long since been abandoned," Roxas began as they slowly walked into the nearly hidden entrance beside the train station. Most wouldn't even notice it was there. "Be careful where you step... You can start to see again after a small walk."

Axel nodded, "Right," he said. He walked as close to Roxas as possible as they descended into the tunnels. It was hard to see as their surroundings grew darker and darker. He placed a gloved hand on Roxas's shoulder to keep from losing the blond. A few minutes later, they were out into the light. The underground tunnels were lit, probably for the tourists who wanted to explore them still.

Roxas put a hand over the one on his shoulder out of pure reaction and didn't let it go right away even as they entered the light. He looked around as his brows knit with confusion.

"Hmm... Weird. It's not normally lit. Usually the only light you get is from the sewer drains on the ceiling coming from the sun."

"Something else unusual and super natural?" Axel suggested as he looked at Roxas's hand placed over his gloved one, expression neutral.

Roxas moved away from Axel, letting his hand go at last. He didn't even seem to notice he had held it... It would register later and he would squeal very loudly. He walked down the last of the steps--or attempted to. In the dark, he knew exactly where he was going and didn't even trip. Here in the light, the first step down a stair and he was slipping and falling face first into the floor.

At least it wasn't a long fall. "Ouch..." _I always forget about that step... Very lame, Roxas. Lame lame lame!_

Axel moved down the steps and leaned down to pick Roxas up.

"You all right?" Axel asked as he lifted the blond. "Your nose seems to be bleeding."

Roxas stood up a little wobbily. He pinched his nose to see if it was broken. The blonde winced, but only at the squish he could feel inside his nose. No pain, so it wasn't broken.

"I'm okay," he assured as he chuckled nervously. "Sorry, that second step has a slide on it. I forgot to avoid it." Roxas blinked as he looked up at Axel. It was just then, in a flash of a second, that he realized the guy was technically holding him right now. _Holding_. Him. And very close. Roxas turned pink, but played it off quickly as his injury by shaking his head and rubbing his face. "Uhhh... Th-Thanks."

Axel kept an arm around Roxas's waist and moved his other around him as if he were hugging the blond to dig into his sleeve again. Axel apparently kept a lot of things in there, including a handkerchief he never used. He placed it over Roxas's nose.

"You should be more careful."

Roxas turned a bit pinker as he was hugged and finally to a nice red shade as Axel touched his nose with the handkerchief. He kept it there himself after Axel placed it. Where the red-head's arm was on Roxas felt very hot, but comfortable. It was almost as if his waist were on fire. Something began to stir where he certainly didn't want it to.

"Thanks... I'll try, but I can't promise anything." He chuckled again as he wiped his nose off gently. "You're acting oddly nice."

"Would you prefer it if I laughed at you and left you on the ground?" Axel said casually, thinking he wasn't being "oddly nice". "I was just concerned. Can you stand properly?"

"I just meant..." Roxas began guiltily, "you always seem so distant, like you could care less what happens to me. I honestly expected you to just wait for me to stand on my own, not help me up." He moved out of Axel's hold carefully. "I'm fine, thank you. I appreciated the help, really." He gave his usual little grin before he walked forward down the tunnel ahead.

"I'm not a very social person, I admit that." Axel said softly. He looked at the blond thoughtfully. "... So these tunnels... They lead to different parts of town?"

"They lead everywhere. Some even go to Twilight Mansion in the forest, but those tunnels are boarded up so no one will go in." Roxas replied, thankful for the subject change.

Axel was back to taking notes on his spare sheet of paper as he followed Roxas through the tunnels. The smaller male showed him every entrance, exit, and even where the boarded exits were to the "haunted mansion". Axel didn't ask questions about the mansion, just about the rest of the tunnels. After an hour of exploring, they left the tunnels and were back on the streets. The redhead finished his note taking and folded the paper again before he stuffed it away.

"Anything more?" he asked.

"There's just the mansion. There's the rip in the wall that leads straight into the forest that leads to the Haunted Mansion. The trees there like to give dirty looks and whisper insults while shuffling around. They can't move very quickly because of their roots, at least." Roxas shrugged. "But I already told you about that whole thing."

Axel nodded, then cleared his throat. "So I suppose this wraps up the tour." He looked down at the new notes he had added onto the map. There seemed to be everything, "except here. There's a small alley-way area I haven't seen yet."

Roxas took a look at the map, surprised to see how clearly detailed it was.

_I was hoping to avoid the Meeting Place. I'm sure the others are there now... Maybe I can keep him away somehow?_ "Avoid that place." Roxas said without any hesitation. "It's... dangerous, but not in a boulder kind of way."

"Dangerous?" Axel gave Roxas a strange look. "How so?"

"Well... It depends on your definition... But just trust me, stay away from there, okay?" Roxas asked, looking sincere.

"Uh huh." Axel crossed his arms. "Well, I'll have to have a look later. Dangerous or not, I need to mark it. So we'll just wrap up the tour from here then."

"...Well... how about you go there tomorrow? By yourself, I mean." Roxas replied and smiled again. "It's behind a ragged curtain and some uneven boards... make sure no one sees you go inside." He then looked a bit sheepish. "Um... About payment..."

Axel nodded. "Payment. Right. So did you think of what you wanted me to do?"

_Maybe I shouldn't ask? But what harm could it do? If he hates me for it, it'll be easy enough to avoid him for life..._ Roxas bit his lip and looked up into Axel's beautiful, sharp green eyes. _Here it goes, I guess..._

"Yes." Roxas moved forward, placed his hands on Axel's shoulders and pushed him against the brick wall behind him gently. "I want you... to kiss me. Or the other way around, it doesn't matter."

"Kiss you?" Axel's brows shot up, looking more then a little surprised. A few seconds of very tense waiting and Roxas watched as Axel seemed to relax, even smirk a little. Roxas almost couldn't believe it when Axel shrugged. "Why not?"

Axel leaned in toward Roxas and pressed their lips together. All breathing--no, all time ceased as Roxas found himself actually being kissed as he requested. It took a moment to believe it was real, his shock was so thick it fogged his brain. He kissed back as soon as his senses returned, three seconds later, and despite the sudden rush of need that lit his every pore on fire shooting from his mouth he kept it as gentle and chaste as Axel did.

_He... he tastes like... cigarettes, chocolate, and... bananas... Not a bad combination at all!_

Axel lingered there for just a moment longer. He pulled away from Roxas's lips with a small "smack".

"There," he murmured. "Thanks for helping me out today."

"N-No... No problem." Roxas replied, his over-stimulated brain felt faint. He was cheering on the inside with all the strength of an excited stadium.

Axel ran a hand through his own hair. He looked a little awkward for the first time since meeting Roxas, but Roxas was sure he also looked a little happy. "So I guess... I'll see you around...?"

Roxas shrugged, "that's the only time you ever see me." Roxas moved off of Axel and stood normally again. He grinned like a goof, unable to hide it. "I... I need to go though. I have some friends waiting for me."

"Right." Axel moved off the wall and licked his lips.

For a moment, the two just stood there and looked at each other. Neither seemed very sure of who should leave first, not until Roxas smiled at Axel. He leaped forward without any warning and gave his cheek a kiss, then ran off to disappear quickly around a corner like before.

Axel blinked, once more rigid as Roxas ran off. He slumped, face now a nice shade of pink. He put his hood over his head as he heard laughing coming from somewhere above him. He gave the birdy in that general direction of the noise before he walked off to report his results.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also I tried to change the writing style a tiny bit in the last chapter annnnnd I don't think it worked... But I'm lazy so I'll probably keep it as is for now. It wasn't that big a difference.


	8. The Meeting Spot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some things I forgot to mention before and some new things I need to mention now:
> 
> 1\. This was actually a role play I did with a former friend a loooong time ago. Before any other games after KH2 came out. The reason I have lots of stuff to use for chapters right now is thanks to that, but we never finished it. We did get pretty far, though (about a third-ish, maybe closer to half?), so no one will have to suffer my bad writing as I attempt to force the plot along alone for a while.
> 
> 2\. I did add some necessary tags. Check those out, okay? 
> 
> 3\. Yes, there are both in-game and added elements in this. It's an AU that's a mix between modern, in-game, and fantasy.
> 
> 4\. THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER I HAD TO TRANSFER OVER! I even added some more content to it so it's much longer than it was! I'll be deleting it from fanfic.net after I let the fans over on ff.net know it's being deleted. The next update shouldn't take too long, but with my work hours increasing again... Don't take my word for that. Actually, the reason this one took an extra second is because I've been busy. xD

Roxas ran all the way back to the meeting spot where his friends were waiting. He was out of breath, but grinning from ear to ear. He stumbled over his feet once he arrived and didn't react as he fell to the ground, beyond a grunt of surprise. He just stood right back up again as if he hadn't, and then moved to sit down on a dirty old lounge chair across from Olette and Pence.

"Hi, guys."

"Hello," they greeted simultaneously. Pence passed Roxas a sea-salt icecream.

"You look really happy," Pence commented casually.

"Did Mr. Tall-and-Sexy cop a feel?" Olette grinned.

Hayner rolled his eyes as he licked his ice cream up. "Pervert."

Roxas shook his head. "No, nothing like that." He took the ice cream gratefully and sighed softly with pleasure as he began to lick the cold edge as if it were the best thing he had ever tasted.

Olette ignored Hayner. "Speaking of which, where is he? You were supposed to bring him by after your date."

"First of all, it wasn't a date... I was just showing him around Twilight Town." Roxas clarified. "And then he had to go somewhere."

"Aww..." Olette seemed disappointed at that. "Well, next time then." She licked her icecream.

"So you had a good time, then," Pence said. "Tell us about it."

Hayner yawned and threw the stick to his ice cream aside once he was done before he leaned back and relaxed into the plank of wood that made the back of his "chair".

"It wasn't a big deal. Just showed him around, I fell down and hurt my nose--he helped me up," Roxas grinned wide again. "I asked him to kiss me and he did."

"Awww!" Olette squealed. "I wish I was there to see it." She pouted for half a second before her grin returned full force. "But I'm really happy for you Roxas. So, second date?"

"Wasn't really a date, Olette." Pence reminded.

"They were alone exploring the town and getting to know each other. And they kissed. It was a date." Olette said firmly. "So, second date?"

"No idea." Roxas stated simply. He shrugged. "It's Hayner's turn tomorrow, right?" He turned to look at his friend. "Where are we going?"

Hayner shrugged. "I haven't decided yet."

"You have all night to come up with a decision," Pence said. "You can let us know tomorrow when we get back together."

"Around noon right?" Olette said, suddenly worried. "Mom wants me to go shopping with her in the morning..."

"Uhhh," Roxas's eyes widened. He was just barely able to conceal his panic. _If we meet up during the day Axel might be around. He didn't say when he was going to come by..._ "Hey, didn't you say there was a hockey game in China Town you wanted to see?"

"Yeah, but I'd rather not use what little munny I have on another big trip." Hayner replied casually.

"How about seeing the circus?"

"Lame."

"Bowling?"

"No."

"Hanging out here is just fine, too," Pence suggested. "We spent a lot of time going all over the place. It's the last few days, why not relax?"

"That sounds nice," Olette said. "I can bring my mom's homemade fudge."

Pence perked up at that. "Mmm..."

Roxas felt doom looming over his shoulder. "Well, why not relax where we can actually see some sun? Nothing but shade here..."

Hayner shrugged. "I like just hanging out here."

Roxas whined.

Hayner quirked a brow at his friend. "What's with you?"

"Yea, you're acting strange," Pence commented. "What's wrong? You feel okay?"

Roxas just sighed. "Okay... I'm going to be honest. I'm afraid to let you guys meet Axel... And he's coming here tomorrow, during the day, to finish up a map he's making of Twilight Town. This little area we're sitting in is the last of what he needs."

"Didn't we go over this?" Olette said. "We told you we're totally cool with you dating him. As long as you like him, we'll like him, too."

"And a map?" Pence blinked. "Why is he making a map? Does he get lost easily?"

"Well, he said it was his 'job' and mentioned he traveled a lot." Roxas replied. "And I know, but I also know you guys very well. Hayner will definitely get into a fight with him--" Hayner just 'Hmph'-ed, "Pence probably won't care, but Olette--you'll either fan girl all over him or you'll go into lecture mode... No offense."

"Job, huh?" Pence said curiously, but just shrugged it off in the end.

"I can behave," Olette said. "If I wanted to, I mean..."

"I know you could, Olette. I've seen you at your parents' dinner parties. But afterward, that's what I really fear from you." Roxas looked at Hayner. "And we all know Hayner will simply be Hayner." He chuckled.

Hayner just rolled his eyes like normal. "Should I just not come then?"

"No, you should..."

"I'm sure its not that big a big deal," Pence said. "I trust Roxas's judge of character. If this Axel person is a nice guy and Roxas likes him we should all put in our best efforts to be nice and welcoming. Right guys?"

"Right," Olette nodded.

"Whatever." Hayner stated gruffly.

Roxas laughed. "You sound like your uncle Leon!" He felt a little calmer now, but still... _What if Olette starts asking questions about the 'date'? It wasn't a date, and Axel might think I'm a lot creepier then I seem... Well, I kind of am to a point, but still!_

_Maybe Axel will just forget to come?_

oo00oo00oo

It was midday when Axel arrived to that little blank spot on his map. It turned out to be just an alley way. A well-worn and well-used alley way. There was a dart board, a plastic sheet roof, and some crates with cushions on them for seating. The redhead even found a cooler full of sodas and a box of icecream. Axel decided to make himself comfortable on what appeared to be a brand new purple beanbag chair. He sketched away on his slightly wrinkled map. There wasn't much, though... except a framed picture of four friends nailed sloppily to the brick wall. Axel stood to get a closer look. There he saw Roxas. 

"... I always seem to run into you wherever I go..." he muttered.

Laughter was heard outside, as well as someone falling and a loud 'CRUNCH!' noise. "Are you okay, Hayner?" Came Roxas's familiar, concerned voice. The second blond of their group had fallen over a stick and landed on the picnic basket, which broke it... but at least didn't spill anything. "Here, I'll carry it."

"You're such a klutz Hayner," came Olette's cheerful tease.

"No fights today, please," Was all Pence said, but he seemed happy himself. He was the first to walk into their favorite hang out spot, suddenly losing his smile when he caught sight of Axel. He blinked in surprise.

Axel returned Pence's shocked stare with a neutral one.

Roxas walked in behind Pence while carrying a large, half broken picnic basket in one hand as he used his other arm to help pull Hayner in as the somewhat dazed blonde rubbed his chin. Roxas first noticed Pence staring before he turned to look at Axel. "Oh, Axel... I thought you'd be done by now." He said casually as he moved Hayner (who had already began to glare as soon as the name slipped from Roxas's mouth) over to his usual chair.

"Axel?" Olette walked in last, a tinge of excitement in her voice. Then she seemed to deflate as she took in the sight of a tall, redheaded _Dark Cloak_.

"I'm just about done here," Axel ignored everyone else. Pence had to shake his head to keep himself from continuously gaping like a fish.

Roxas set Hayner down, then walked up to Axel. He pulled some lint that was left off the red-head's coat casually. He tried to be as normal as possible, but he just knew his friends were going to have a _lot_ to say once the guy left... At least Axel wasn't smoking to top it all off. He gave the red head a small smile. "It's dusty in here." He said plainly. "What else did you need?"

Hayner was twitching.

"Just to finish off my notes. I can do that when I go back." Axel gave the alley way one more look around, noting Hayner. The boy looked ready to tear him apart. That didn't faze him at all. "You didn't explain what made this place so dangerous." He quirked a brow at Roxas.

Roxas chuckled nervously. "Because Hayner might jump up and bite you at any second." he indicated the blond behind him. "And Olette is usually squealing and clinging by now." He tried to joke. "She's the most dangerous thing in Twilight Town."

"I don't cling," Olette protested as she took seat in her beanbag chair. She gave Roxas a pout, then attempted to give Axel a friendly smile, which wasn't returned. Pence took a seat on the crate near her.

"We were just about to have lunch," Pence said after clearing his throat. He felt embarrassed for staring. "Want to join us?"

Axel glanced at Hayner, who seemed to be gritting his teeth. "I don't want to impose."

"You're not." Roxas said, a little too quickly. "Hayner... he does that every time he meets new people. Seriously."

Hayner just huffed and snatched the picnic basket up before digging through it almost too roughly.

Axel blinked at Hayner, who was now tearing through a sandwich like a ravenous wolf. "I see..."

"Have a seat," Olette pat another crate that was on her other side. "And we'll pass around the basket."

"If Hayner actually _shares_ ," Roxas grumbled and pouted at Hayner. He tried to slip a hand into the basket, but Hayner just snapped his jaws at him. "Hayner..." He let out a sigh, before he turned toward the curtain. "Isn't that Seifer?" 

Hayner jerked his head to see, which gave Roxas a chance to snatch the basket. "The curtains aren't even _open_ , idiot."

Axel almost chuckled, but he covered it up with a cough.

"I knew it," Olette said, smug.

"Please no fighting," Pence said pleadingly. "A nice picnic, remember?"

"Yes, Pence," Olette sighed.

Hayner twitched. "You know he's a jack ass! If he found this place we'd never be able to come back!" Hayner growled and turned the evil eye on Roxas. The blond had a sandwich in his mouth when he turned to look at Hayner like a deer in headlights. He had just enough time to toss the basket to Olette before Hayner tackled him--they both fell into a pile of junk and knocked up a cloud of dust in their wake. 

"No, my sandwich!" Roxas whined.

"Look at it this way: it really is a _sand_ wich now!" Hayner chuckled, Roxas kicked him.

Axel watched, unsure whether or not to be amused. He felt oddly... jealous. And that was starting to frighten him dearly. He didn't hear Olette ask him the usual "get to know you" questions. "I should go," he said. "I still have work to do."

Roxas stood up, coming from behind the dirty couch. He shook his head out, making dust fly everywhere. "There! My gift of love." He said playfully, before he turned to look up at Axel. "... You okay?" He asked the red-head as he deftly touched his elbow. "Was it something Hayner said or did?"

"Why do you assume it's me?!" Hayner asked as he stood up, now resembling a gigantic dust bunny.

"No," Axel moved away. "I need to get back to work. I'll see you around." He put his hood up and stuffed the paper back into his sleeve. He left without another word.

"Aww--he looked upset," Olette gave Hayner a pout. "What did you do?"

Pence sighed and rubbed his temples. A fight would start now for certain.

Roxas seemed disappointed, like he always was when Axel left... He had been so close to making a connection to. He slumped down on the couch and grabbed the basket gently before he dug through it for that fudge Olette promised. He decided to gouge on that instead of deal with Hayner yelling at Olette and Olette yelling at Hayner... He sighed deeply.

Olette and Hayner began their fight, and of course Pence _tried_ to mediate... At first. He gave in for now. Instead, he sat with Roxas and pat his shoulder. "You need me more than they do," he said soothingly. At the same time, he watched Olette and Hayner throw insults back and forth.

It was almost amusing, or it would be, if Roxas weren't so sure he had **screwed** up before things even got started with Axel.


	9. The Last Spot on the Map

Roxas ran all the way back to the meeting spot where his friends were waiting, a bit out of breath and grinning from ear to ear. He stumbled inside once he arrived, not caring as he fell to the ground--just standing right back up again as if he hadn't, and then moved to sit down on a dirty old lounge chair across from Olette and Pence. "Hi, guys."

"Hello," they greeted simultaneously. Pence passed Roxas a sea-salt icecream.

"You look really happy," Pence commented.

"Did Mr. Tall and Sexy cop a feel?" Olette grinned.

Hayner rolled his eyes, licking his ice cream up. "Pervert."

Roxas shook his head. "No, nothing like that." he took the ice cream gratefully, sighing softly as he began to lick the cold edge.

Olette ignored Hayner. "Speaking of which, where is he? You were supposed to bring him by after your date."

"First of all, it wasn't a date... I was just showing him around Twilight Town." Roxas clarified. "And then he had to go somewhere."

"Aww..." Olette seemed disappointed at that. "Well, next time then." She licked her icecream.

"So you had a good time then," Pence said. "Tell us about it."

Hayner yawned, throwing the stick to his ice cream aside once he was done, then just leaning back and relaxing.

"It wasn't a big deal... Just showed him around, I fell down and hurt my nose--he helped me up..." Roxas grinned wide again. "I asked him to kiss me, and he did."

"Awww!" Olette squealed. "I wish I was there to see it..." she pouted suddenly. "But I'm really happy for you Roxas. So, second date?"

"Wasn't really a date, Olette..." Pence reminded.

"They were alone exploring the town and getting to know each other. And they kissed. It was a date." Olette said firmly. "So, second date?" She asked again.

"No idea." Roxas stated simply. He shrugged. "It's Hayner's turn tomorrow, right?" He turned to look at his friend. "Where are we going?"

Hayner shrugged. "I haven't decided yet..."

"You have all night to come up with a decision," Pence said. "You can let us know tomorrow when we get back together."

"Around noon right?" Olette said, looking suddenly worried. "Mom wants me to go shopping with her in the morning..."

"Uhhh..." Roxas went a little wide-eyed, hiding his panic. If they met up here during the day, Axel might be around. "Hey, didn't you say there was a Ice Hockey game in China Town you wanted to see?" China Town was in the opposite direction of the beach, a bit expensive to get to... but Roxas had worked hard enough that day that he already had his ticket money. Knowing his friends, they had at least _some_ money saved.

"Yeah... But I'd rather not use what little munny I have on another big trip." Hayner replied casually.

"How about seeing the circus?"

"Lame."

"Bowling?"

"No..."

"Hanging out here is just fine too," Pence suggested. "We spent a lot of time just going everywhere. Its the last few days, why not relax?"

"That sounds nice," Olette said. "I can bring my mom's homemade fudge."

Pence perked up at that. "Mmm.."

Roxas suddenly felt his anxiety spike. "Well, why not relax where we can actually see some sun? Nothing but shade here..."

Hayner shrugged. "I like just hanging out here."

Roxas whined.

Hayner quirked a brow at his friend. "What's with you?"

"Yeah, you're acting strange," Pence commented. "What's wrong? You feel okay?"

Roxas just sighed. "Okay... I'm going to be honest. I'm afraid to let you guys meet Axel... And he's coming here, tomorrow during the day, to finish up a map he's making of Twilight Town. This little area we're sitting in is the last of what he needs."

"Didn't we go over this?" Olette said. "We told you we're totally cool with you dating him. As long as you like him, we'll like him too."

"And a map..?" Pence blinked. "Why is he making a map? Does he get lost easily?"

"Well... He said it was his 'job'. And mentioned he traveled a lot..." Roxas replied. "And I know, but I also know you guys very well. Hayner will _definitely_ get into a fight with him--" Hayner just 'Hmph'-ed, "Pence probably won't care, but Olette--you'll either fan girl all over him or you'll go into lecture mode... No offense."

"Job, huh?" Pence said, but just shrugged it off in the end.

"I can behave," Olette said. "If I wanted to, I mean..."

"I know you could, Olette. I've seen you at your parents' dinner parties." _But afterward, that's what I really fear from you..._ Roxas looked at Hayner. "And we all know Hayner will simply be Hayner." He chuckled.

Hayner just rolled his eyes like normal. "Should I just _not_ come then?"

"No, you should... Sorry, I guess I'm being weird.."

"I'm sure its not that big a big deal," Pence said. "I trust Roxas's judge of character. If this Axel person is a nice guy, and Roxas likes him, we should all put in our best efforts to be nice and welcoming. Right, guys?"

"Right," Olette nodded.

"Whatever," Hayner stated gruffly.

Roxas laughed. "You sound like your uncle Leon!" He felt a little calmer now, but still... And what if Olette started asking questions about the 'date'? It wasn't a date, and Axel might think Roxas is a lot creepier then he seems... Well, he was to a point. But still!

_Maybe Axel will just forget to come?_

oo00oo00oo

It was midday when Axel arrived to that little blank spot on his map. It turned out to be just an alley way. A well-worn, and well used alley way. There was a dart board, and some crates with cushions on them for seating. The redhead even found a cooler full of colas and a box of icecream. Axel decided to make himself comfortable on what appeared to be a brand new beanbag chair. [Olette brought it in one day]. He sketched away on his slightly wrinkled map, noting the interesting things. What was most interesting was the framed picture of four friends nailed sloppily to the brick wall. Axel stood, looking at it. There he saw Roxas. "... I always seem to run into you wherever I go..." he muttered.

Laughter was heard outside, as well as someone falling and a loud 'CRUNCH!' noise. "Are you okay, Hayner?" Came Roxas's familiar voice. The second blond of their group had fallen over a stick and landed on the picnic basket, breaking it... but not spilling anything. "Here, I'll carry it..."

"You're such a klutz Hayner," came Olette's cheerful tease.

"No fights today, please," Was all Pence said, but he seemed happy himself. He was the first to walk into their favorite hang out spot, suddenly losing his smile when he caught sight of Axel. He blinked, surprised.

Axel returned Pence's shocked stare with a neutral one.

Roxas walked in, carrying a large, half broken picnic basket in one hand as he used his other arm to help pull Hayner in as he rubbed his chin. Roxas first noticed Pence staring, before he turned to look at Axel. "Oh, Axel... I thought you'd be done by now." He said casually, moving Hayner (who had already began to glare as soon as the name slipped from Roxas's mouth) over to his usual chair.

"Axel?" Olette walked in last, a tinge of excitement in her voice. Then she seemed to deflate, taking in the sight of a tall, redheaded _Dark Cloak_.

"I'm just about done here," Axel said, ignoring everyone else. Pence had to shake his head to keep himself from continuously gaping like a fish.

Roxas set Hayner down, then walked up to Axel, pulling some lint that was left off his coat casually. He was trying to be as normal as possible, but he just knew his friends were going to have a lot to say once the guy left... At least Axel wasn't smoking to top it all off. He gave the red head a small smile. "It's dusty in here." He said plainly. "What else did you need?"

Hayner was twitching.

"Just to finish off my notes. I can do that when I go back." Axel gave the alley way one more look around, noting Hayner. The boy looked ready to tear him apart. That didn't faze him at all. "You didn't explain what made this place so dangerous." He quirked a brow at Roxas.

Roxas chuckled nervously. "Because Hayner might jump up and bite you at any second..." he indicated the blond behind him. "And Olette is usually squealing and clinging by now." He tried to joke. "She's the most dangerous thing in Twilight Town."

"I don't cling," Olette protested, taking a seat in her beanbag chair. She gave Roxas a pout, then attempted to give Axel a friendly smile, which wasn't returned. Pence took a seat on the crate near her.

"We were just about to have lunch," Pence said, clearing his throat. He felt embarrassed for staring. "Want to join us?"

Axel glanced at Hayner, who seemed to be gritting his teeth. "I don't want to impose."

"You're not." Roxas said, a little too quickly. "Hayner... he does that every time he meets new people. Seriously."

Hayner just huffed, snatching the picnic basket up and digging through it.

Axel blinked at Hayner, who was now tearing through a sandwich like a ravenous wolf. "I see..."

"Have a seat," Olette pat another crate that was on her other side. "And we'll pass around the basket."

"If Hayner actually _shares_..." Roxas grumbled, pouting at Hayner. He tried slipping a hand into the basket, but Hayner just snapped his jaws at him. "Hayner..." He let out a sigh, looking toward the curtain. "Isn't that Seifer?" Hayner jerked his head to see, giving Roxas a chance to snatch the basket. "The curtains aren't even open, numnuts."

Axel almost chuckled. But he covered it up with a cough.

"I knew it," Olette said, looking smug.

"Please, no fighting," Pence said pleadingly. "A nice picnic, remember."

"Yes, Pence." Olette said.

Hayner twitched. "You know he's a jack ass, if he found this place we'd never be able to come back!" Hayner growled, turning the evil eye on Roxas. The blond had a sandwich in his mouth, now looking at Hayner like a deer in headlights. He had just enough time to toss the basket to Olette before Hayner tackled him--knocking both behind a pile of junk.. And kicking up a cloud of dust in their wake. "No, my sandwich!" Roxas whined.

"Look at it this way... It really is a _sand_ wich now!" Hayner chuckled. Roxas kicked him.

Axel watched, unsure whether or not to be amused. He felt oddly... jealous. And that was starting to frighten him dearly. He didn't hear Olette ask him the usual "get to know you" questions. "I should go," he said. "I still have work to do."

Roxas stood up, coming from behind the dirty couch. He shook his head out, making dust fly everywhere. "There! My gift of love." He said playfully, looking up at Axel. "... You okay...?" He asked the red-head, deftly touching his elbow. "Was it something Hayner said or did?"

"Why do you assume it's me?!" Hayner asked as he stood up, looking like a gigantic dust bunny.

"No," Axel moved away. "I need to get back to work. I'll see you around." He put his hood up, stuffing the paper back into his sleeve. He left without another word.

"Aww--he looked upset," Olette said, giving Hayner a pout. "What did you do?!"

Pence sighed, rubbing his temples. A fight was going to start now.

Roxas seemed disappointed, like he always was when Axel left... He had been so close to making a connection to. He sighed, slumping down on the couch, grabbing the basket gently, and digging through it for that fudge Olette promised. He decided to gorge on that instead of deal with Hayner yelling at Olette and Olette yelling at Hayner... sighing deeply.

Olette and Hayner began their fight, and of course Pence tried to mediate... But gave in for now. Instead, he sat with Roxas, patting his shoulder comfortingly. "You need me more than they do," he said soothingly. At the same time, he watched Olette and Hayner throw insults back and forth.

It was almost amusing... or it would be, if Roxas weren't so sure he had screwed up before things even got started with Axel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

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**Author's Note:**

> Most of the chapters of this story are going to be rather long. I also already have a sequel to follow involving another couple (and possibly a third story to follow after that) hence why this is going to be a series. <3 If you want to read ahead you can always check out my fanfiction.net account, buuuuuut... As I am changing things around I would suggest you wait. The story in general will be the same, but it really doesn't look great on my other account.
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> Thanks for reading!


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